My 500th post! with thanks to lots of Mooters!

[Rían]

OK – here it is – my 500 post thread!! Whee!!! I'm starting it in the Middle Earth thread, because that's where I hang out the most, although I have reliable information that it will soon be moved to the General Messages forum....

First, I’d like to thank the academy - er - **wads up paper, gets out other paper** First, I’d like to say thanks to all the admins and mods who work hard to make Entmoot such a pleasant place to post. This is the first board that I’ve ever been on, and I’m so glad I discovered this one first! Thanks, Michael Martinez, for your recommendation and the link from Suite101!

For my 500th post, I decided to choose the title “Halfelvenâ€�. Although I really like LoTR (I’ve read it 8 or 9 times) and am deeply touched by its beauty, my heart is really with the elves. And though I know that it’s not real (don’t worry, you don’t need to call the men in the white coats), still I like to imagine that I have just a bit of elvish blood in me, because I am so deeply touched by the beauty of Tolkien’s works. And although RÃ*an was a human woman, like me, (I chose her name because I have always thought it so lovely, although her story is a sad one) she was the great-grandma of Elrond Halfelven, so it’s not entirely inappropriate!

Now, I just wanted to mention and thank a couple of people:

First, I want to thank Khamûl (surprise!) – we’ve never even “talked� on a thread together, but you were the first admin I had contact with, and your pleasant and prompt answers to my newbie PMs really encouraged me to stick around. (I really really did check the FAQ’s first!!) BTW- umm, which team is the War Eagles?

Next, I’d like to say a big thank-you to my favorite admin, Sister Golden Hair! **throws Nargothrond-shaped confetti**. I’ve really appreciated your help, your common sense, your humor, and I’ve especially enjoyed talking over Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth with you!

Which leads me to the threads – SGH and Artanis, I’ve so enjoyed posting with you in Athrabeth and now Laws and Customs – our ladies’ “gab sessions� over the lesser-known works in Morgoth’s Ring have been absolutely wonderful. Thanks!

And my beloved Writing in Tengwar Characters thread – such fun to find other Tengwar writers from around the country (and the world!). What a neat thing to send some Tengwar thru Entmoot across the country and have someone else read it! Let’s get that Kansas Starbucks meeting going, TinuvielChild, katya, sminty, Menelvagor and Eärniel!

The CS Lewis thread – what amazing works this man wrote, and how I’ve enjoyed discussing them here, especially with crickhollow, the only other person in the entire world that I know of that has read and likes Till We Have Faces!

The Horses thread - (check 10/29 post - ran out of room!)

And some other Mooters not tied specifically to the above threads, but with whom I have enjoyed posting very much:

Elfmaster XK, a fellow archery lover that I can discuss the finer points of fletching and finger ledges with, and who so kindly shot off an end for me while I am tied up in the soccer season and can’t go myself.

BoP, who pops into a thread in her sheep-ly way with good posts when I least expect it - oh puhleezze stop teasing me about my lack of HoME books – I can’t staaannnd it anymore! And whatever does your name mean, anyway?

Ñólendil, whose knowledge of ME and use of diacritical marks I have enjoyed so very much (and I’ve enjoyed his wit even more, when he includes it in his posts! I’ll always think of you when I see a goose, Ñólendil! If you guys are wondering, check out the Fantasy vs. Reality thread…) He very kindly sent me all the special keyboard codes so I could put the diacritical marks in Tolkien’s characters’ names myself. Not that my stupid keyboard worked, and I ended up having to put them in my sig to cut and paste into my posts, but it was the thought that counted. (I almost wrote “diuretical marks� once – whoops!)

All my fellow Christians on the board – Go God!! He’s the greatest!! Let’s keep praying for each other – wonderful, isn’t it? And the Bible is even more beautiful than all of Tolkien’s works put together, as I’m sure he would agree.

And finally the lady that I am exchanging emails with across the miles that separate us over a sorrow that we share – I wish I could give you a hug in person, but I’ll just have to keep emailing instead. Let’s keep encouraging each other! (and yes, I can type terrifically fast – that’s why I can write such long-winded posts and still get dinner on the table! Except we had Pollo Loco tonight, to celebrate my new status.)

And I’m sure I forgot some people, so please forgive me and keep posting with me anyway. Thanks again so much, people! Now I absolutely MUST go and do some laundry!!

--Sharon (aka RÃ*an)